'Just Erupted': Indiana Confident in 'Top-Line Guy' Rolijah Hardy Replacing Jailin Walker

Ask Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti or senior linebacker Aiden Fisher about the rise of sophomore linebacker Rolijah Hardy, and there's no specific moment or accomplishment that accompanies it.

But as Hardy joins Fisher in leading Indiana's linebackers through drills each day at practice, there's little denying that it happened.

Hardy's 12-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter of a blowout victory over Western Illinois in Week 2 last season may come to mind, but it was much more a foreshadowing introduction than a cemented breakthrough.

The better, vaguer and more commonly stated moment came during the Hoosiers' 41-24 win in Week 6 at Northwestern. Between an injury to starting linebacker Jailin Walker and the Wildcats' affinity for 12 personnel, a two tight-end package, Hardy's workload increased.

Hardy played only 24 total defensive snaps in the first five weeks — all in nonconference games. He didn't play on defense in the Hoosiers' first two Big Ten games against UCLA and Maryland, according to Pro Football Focus.

But inside Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium — located just a few yards away from the Lake Michigan shore — Hardy dipped his toes in the Big Ten water. He made two tackles, including a tackle-for-loss in the fourth quarter, and he never looked back.

Indiana transitioned from Isaiah Jones to Hardy as its starter in trio packages, or three-linebacker sets against 12 personnel. Fisher and Walker remained the two leaders in the middle of the Hoosiers' potent defense.

All the while, Hardy's role and production kept growing. He intercepted Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola in the fourth quarter of the Hoosiers' 56-7 win in Week 8. He made two tackles for loss in a Week 10 thumping of Michigan State. He added a tackle for loss against Purdue and pitched in for a half-tackle-for-loss against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff.

Suddenly, the 5-foot-11, 225-pound Hardy, who spent 2023 at the Naval Academy Preparatory School and didn't commit to Indiana until May of 2024, boasted a disruption-filled resume. He finished his freshman season with 22 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, a pair of forced fumbles and one interception across 13 games and four starts.

Indiana didn't know Hardy had such production in him until midseason. Fisher said Hardy's youth showed in practice, and he needed more time to develop.

Then, Hardy flipped the switch.

"Once we got into the season and gameplans, he just kind of erupted," Fisher said Thursday. "Everything he did, he was always in the right spot, always found the ball. Everything he was doing was right. Athletically, he's as gifted as anybody.

"So, it was just a matter of time when he could catch on mentally and learn those little nuances we have, and he caught on very quickly last season, probably by like Week 5 or 6."

Hardy enrolled at Indiana as a zero-star recruit, according to 247Sports. But Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines discovered and evaluated Hardy, and the Hoosiers brought him in for a late spring or early summer visit in 2024, Cignetti said.

Just over four months after Hardy arrived in Bloomington as an unheralded, unknown recruit, he made his first college start.

The signs existed for such an emergence. He was The Ledger's Big School Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2022 at Lakeland High School, and his team won the Class 4S state title. Hardy also earned first-team all-state honors in basketball as a senior, and he comes from an athletic family — his sister, Trinity, played basketball at Army, and his brother, Derajah, plays football at Navy.

Yet between his smaller stature and a pair of injury-riddled seasons as a sophomore and junior in high school, Hardy flew under every radar but Indiana's. The Hoosiers believe they mined a gem.

"I think Ro Hardy is a top-line guy," Cignetti said at 2025 Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas.

Hardy may not have arrived at Indiana with top-line billing, but the opportunity exists for him to prove Cignetti right this fall. Walker exhausted his eligibility, thrusting Hardy to the top of the depth chart next to Fisher.

It's the moment Hardy spent last season preparing to seize.

"I think the thing with Rolijah is he has just been a sponge," Fisher said in December 2024. "He's gotten in that room and he's wanted to learn every single thing. Everything that me and Jai Walk say, he's always listening and he's really impressive.

"He's a really good player, really smart player, and he's impressed a lot of people, I know that. He's just a great player and one that we're very fortunate to have in our room."

The 20-year-old Hardy started all spring on Indiana's defense, and Cignetti felt he was "really, really good" during the final week of spring practice. Hardy's talent showed, and he had reached the level Indiana needed him to play at consistently during the fall, Cignetti said. He capped the spring with a 46-yard pick-six in the exhibition game.

Still only one week into camp, the final verdict is still out on whether Hardy can translate his strong spring finish to a standout sophomore season.

But Indiana advises this much: Don't bet against it.

"He's got a great future," Cignetti said.